Gatos third at Westmont, ready for 'Cat Shootout'

By Dick Sparrer

Jim Marino knows where he'll be come Saturday night. The Los Gatos boys basketball coach is just hoping that his Wildcats are there with him.

Marino will be at the high school gym for the championship game of the Los Gatos Lions' Club Wildcat Shootout. And if things work out the way Marino hopes, his Cats will be on the floor playing for the title.

The tournament begins Dec. 5, 5:30 p.m., when Pioneer faces Live Oak in the opening game. At 7 p.m., host Los Gatos plays Branham in the other game in that bracket.

The teams in the other bracket will be on the floor on Dec. 6 with pre-tournament favorite Armijo battling Leland at 5:30 p.m. and Saratoga taking on Willow Glen at 7 p.m.

First-round losers collide at 3:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Friday with first-round winners playing at 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.

The consolation championship game is set for 4 p.m. on Saturday with the third-place game at 5:30 p.m. and the championship game at 7 p.m.

Marino figures that defending champ Armijo will likely be playing in that title game.

"They're going to be tough to beat," said Marino of the Indians, who have four starters back from last year.

"And I'd like to think that we could get there, too," he added.

Los Gatos opened the season with a third-place finish in the Westmont Tournament last week. The Wildcats won two of three games in the tourney, despite playing without returning all-leaguers Trent Edwards and Chris McMorrow (still on the football team).

Both Edwards and McMorrow will join the team for Wednesday's game against Branham, but then Edwards takes off for a college visit through the weekend.

McMorrow, a 6-foot-5 senior forward, will join stalwarts Scott Holbert, Ben Sandigo and Chris Clock to give the Wildcats a strong scoring punch in the weekend tournament.

Holbert and Clock return to the floor this week after each won all-tournament team honors at Westmont when Gatos nailed a pair of overtime wins to finish third.

Clock buried a three-pointer in the final minute to help Los Gatos tie Westmont 49-49 in regulation to force the overtime period in the third-place game. He came back with a bucket in OT and Holbert drilled two three throws to help Gatos clinch the 53-51 win.

Gatos had opened with a 80-76 overtime win over Leland before losing 54-40 to Piedmont Hills in the semifinals. Piedmont went on to play Fremont for the tourney title, losing 59-45.

The Wildcats worked hard for the win over the Chargers in the opener.

"That was really an exhausting game," said Marino. "They play at such a frantic pace, and we got caught in that pace."

"They have five guys who shoot threes," said the coach, who added that the Chargers threw up 32 three-pointers and made 10 of them.

Holbert was the scoring leader for Los Gatos in the win, pitching 29 points. Clock had a pair of threes among his 19 points, Nick Kay drilled 11, and Sandigo supported with 10. Rory Bauer added seven points, and Jayson Furia hit four.

Los Gatos outscored Leland 23-15 in the fourth period to tie the game, and won it by topping the Chargers 12-8 in overtime. But the win proved costly for the Cats.

"We were tired the next night, and we struggled against Piedmont," said Marino.

Sandigo topped all LG scorers with 13 points, and Clock finished with nine, including a three-pointer. Holbert added seven points in the game, Furia and Kyle Gisler each tossed in a three-pointer, Kay had three points and Dan Bittiker hit two points.

Things didn't start out much better for the Cats a night later against Westmont. The Warriors jumped out to a 23-7 lead after a period and were up 31-20 at the half.

"We started out looking very sluggish," said Marino. "We were down 18 at one point in the first half."

"But to their credit, they rallied back and fought hard," said Marino of his Cats.

Gatos outscored Westmont 17-10 in the third and 12-8 in the fourth to tie the game, thanks to Clock's three-pointer in the final minute. Then the Cats won it in overtime.

Sandigo led the club with 17 points and Clock finished with 15, including three three-pointers. Holbert joined the two in double digits with 11 points.

Holbert topped the Cats on the boards with 12 rebounds, and Sandigo ripped down eight. Furia didn't score, but he led the team with seven assists.

Kay and Jamal Modir pitched in four points apiece in the Los Gatos win, and Bauer added a bucket.

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